Theodore J. Visner on Wednesday, Oct. 12, appeared before Bay County District Judge Timothy J. Kelly for arraignment on nine counts of felony firearm, eight counts of delivering or manufacturing marijuana, and one count of maintaining a drug house. The 18 charges are divided among four files.

The marijuana-related charge is a four-year felony, while the drug house count is a high court misdemeanor punishable by up to two years’ incarceration. Felony firearm comes with a mandatory minimum two-year prison sentence, to be served consecutively to any other stint.

The case against Visner dates back to Aug. 24, when a Michigan State Police helicopter spotted several marijuana plants growing in the backyard of Visner’s home at 856 W. Cody Estey Road in Mount Forest Township. The plants were within a fence, but had no roof over them.

The same day, detectives with the Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team (or BAYANET) noticed a sign on Visner’s garage staying he was selling medicinal marijuana to qualified patients.

The state police cautioned detectives that Visner had violent tendencies with a history of threatening to shoot police over an eviction dispute, court records show.

Investigators had direct contact with Visner on Aug. 30, when two undercover detectives twice visited his garage. The detectives wrote in their reports, contained in court files, that the garage was set up like a small business made to sell pot, edibles, and plants.

Before Visner sold to either detective, he asked them both for their Michigan Medical Marihuana [sic] Card. Both detectives showed Visner investigative cards provided to them by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. The cards bore